Wates
Reimagining a brand with purpose

Challenge

Wates had developed a bold strategic vision, encapsulating its purpose in a powerful statement: Reimagining places for people to thrive. This captured its commitment to improving the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the people who live in and use the properties it touches.

To capitalise on this new purpose, Wates needed to arm its workforce with the tools to communicate effectively. It also needed to reach a diverse audience – from homeowners to politicians – in order to drive engagement and boost brand awareness.

To amplify the new Wates purpose, we needed to express it in a way that was both ambitious and grounded.

Insight

Through stakeholder workshops and research, we discovered that Wates builds and maintains environments that allow the people who use them to achieve their ambitions. As well as shaping safe, secure properties, Wates creates space for people to progress.

This affirmed the brand purpose, Reimagining places for people to thrive, as both an invitation and a promise to rethink what the built environment can do for people and communities.

Solution

We designed a strategic messaging framework around three complementary ideas that ladder up to and validate the brand purpose statement: the power of reimagining; how we thrive; and we are grounded. This underpinned a suite of creative copy that enables Wates to flex its voice across its diverse set of audiences.

We refreshed the visual identity to convey a more sophisticated and meaningful expression of the company’s purpose. Visual storytelling plays a central role through a reportage photography style that captures authentic, thriving moments. Finally, a distinctive new illustration style offers greater flexibility and clarity. The new visual and verbal elements came to life in a heartfelt brand film that captures the deeply human story at the heart of the Wates brand.

Jude Taylor, Head of Brand and Marketing at Wates, says:

The Frameworks helped us unlock the full potential of our brand purpose. They guided us in shaping a clear messaging system and refreshed visual identity. Their mix of strategic thinking and creative instinct brought real consistency to how we tell our story across the business, making it feel joined-up, authentic, and unmistakably ours. Most importantly, they helped us use our purpose to define a stronger position in the market, one that’s true to who we are and clearly sets us apart.